WASHINGTON (AP) — The IRS has eliminated a huge processing backlog of groups seeking tax-exempt status, the agency's chief said Tuesday. Tea party organizations' claims that they were singled out for tough treatment when they applied for that designation were at the heart of a 2013 controversy over the agency.

FORT MEADE, Md. (AP) — Two cross-dressing men who were fired upon by National Security Agency police when they disobeyed orders at a heavily guarded gate had just stolen a car from a man who had picked them up to "party" at a motel, police said Tuesday.